1500 Hookers (part 2)

This is a gateway that had the most beautiful flowers peeking out from behind it.  It was across the street from Diana Kerns home in Baltimore. 
I met Diana at a rug guild meeting and she graciously invited me to stay in her home on my way to the ATHA meeting in Lancaster last week.
Another rug hooker was also staying with Diana that night-- Phyllis Lindblade from Michigan.
Both are on my "Yahooker" group on-line but I had never met Phyllis before.  We had so much fun that night playing Mah Jongg into the almost wee hours ;-)
Diana doesn't actually live in the house across the street from these beautiful flowers anymore but she still owns the home.

Here are the other photos from the rug show. 
This particular batch of photos was from a group of rugs that are replicas of some antique rugs by Magdalena Briner Eby.  I loved the simple designs of these rugs with the "hit-and-miss" backgrounds that added so much texture to them yet they really were subtle in their "loudness"-- they almost blend in, leaving the animals still as the focal point.   Here is the placard that accompanied these rugs.

And then, the rugs...

That's it for the rug show!!  I hope you enjoyed it-- it's the next best thing to being there and seeing it first-hand.  I wish I had thought to take pictures of ALL the rugs-- there were others that I am remembering that were stunning...

Oh well...

Debra <3

1500 Hookers

Last week I was fortunate to attend the ATHA (Association of Traditional Hooking Artists) Biennial.  It was in Lancaster, PA-- one of my all time favorite places to go ;-)
It was my first rug hooking convention, my first major rug show, and my first time to take a rug hooking class. The two ladies on either side of me are ((L) Gail DuFresne and (R) Cynthia Norwood.
They are giants in the rug hooking community.  I took an all day teacher training class from them and I learned that teaching rug hooking isn't a lot different than teaching quilting or punch needle.  The medium is slightly different but I approached it in much the same way as the other two and these two ladies validated my perception so I think it's going to work out fine ;-)))
They were a fun team and were perfect for this class.  They shared everything rug hooking from A to Z and even brought in a few other teachers who also had good insight and amazingly, none of them said the same thing so it was a win-win-win-win-win!!!!  YAY!!!

I met up with so many internet friends so I was able to put faces to names and even managed to make some new friends as well.  The rug hooking community is still relatively small and the talent in this small pool of artists who offered their work for display was exceptional to say the least.  The rugs in the show were some of the best examples of textile art I have ever seen.
I am going to post a few of the rugs from the show... ok, a lot.  hahaha!
They were all so amazing-- these photos don't do them justice.
My favorites of course were the primitive ones-- what can I say?  I love love love the purposeful art over the decorative and fine art but can still appreciate the latter.
You might even recognize a couple of mine in the mix ;-)

This first photo was one of 4 of the same design.  All four were different but this one was my favorite.

Here are the others--

The larger rug in this photo has been a favorite of mine for a long time.  How lucky it was that my two entries were in such good company ;-)

The next two pictures are close-ups of my entries that were also designed and hooked by me. 
This rug is "Bless Our Home" and it was my 3rd hooked rug made a year and a half ago.  It's still one of my favorites ;-)

This is my rug that was featured on the July 2011 cover of the Wool Street Journal magazine ;-)
I named it "Friendship's Offering".
It is the May angel from a calendar series I did as a "Block-of-the-Month" quilt collection.  You can see the entire quilt calendar collection on my Handmaiden Designs website.  I am now doing them as hooked wall rugs with a few design changes due to the fact that sometimes the quilt details don't translate so well to hooking.  So far the April, May, June, and July hooked angels are done.  Only 8 more to go ;-0!! 
I am also continuing the collection into Punch Needle patterns, again with a few design changes but this time, to keep it interesting ;-)

This ottoman was done by one of my new friends, Linda (I can't remember her last name now but it will come to me and I'll make the correction then).  

She purchased this ottoman from Lazy Boy I think is what she said and then recovered it with a hooked rug.  This is one of those pictures that truly doesn't show how fabulous the item was...  but take my word for it-- AMAZING!!!

My roommate at the convention was Allie Barchi who I met a year ago at a Brandywine, PA hook-in. This is one of her entries in the show.  There are so many things I love about this rug-- color, style, subject, etc., and her hooking was beautiful to boot!

This is a chair that someone hooked the back, the seat, and the arms!!!  It was stunning.  

The note on the seat is explaining to please not touch as it was broken en route to the show and unstable.  I sure hope it can be fixed.

I loved the colors in this rug and especially because the design was primitive and whimsical to me.
Karen Kahle is one of my favorite rug designers and I think this might be one of her designs.

This rug in progress was a true highlight.  I first met Judy at a Mason-Dixon Guild meeting in July of this year.  She is delightful and her rugs were breathtaking.  She has done mostly African animals and she works in a fine cut and is a low hooker.  Her rugs looked and felt like it would as if you actually touched the animal and petted it.  Her style of hooking isn't anything I would ever do myself but it literally brought tears to my eyes to see this again.  The first time I saw it, she had three of the eyes done.  She is going very steadily and for her work I have no words to express how beautiful and amazing it truly is.  These eyes are lifelike with soul.  The designer of the rug is Lenny Feenan.  Please take a look at his site (this particular rug is under the "Eye See You" tab) to see how this rug evolved and the canvas Judy started with.  (I looked for a website for Judy and couldn't find one but I did see that some of her work is on Lenny's site) ;-)  If you click on the photo, it gets bigger ;-)

Here are more photos from the rug show...  I'll post these and more in a later blog post.   ENJOY!!!
(PS-- I can tell my photography skills are seriously lacking as I look at these photos ;-0!!)

Is this the most fun and majestic bird?!  Love the crown!!

I LOVED this ottoman!!!  There were about 3 or 4 of these in the show and I actually was taken with all of them ;-)

I have got to do one of these!!!!

This is a baby giraffe against it's mother.  You can see the fold of skin on the mother's leg to the right of the baby's neck at the bottom right of the rug.
I don't know if this is one of Judy's rugs or someone else doing this same canvas-- still beautiful work!!! ;-)

Someone else also did some eyes ;-)

The poppies on the rug below, I am realizing are gorgeous!!!  I wish I had taken a photo of that entire rug as well ;-(
Instead, I was focusing on Lincoln's Inaugural address.  Oy...
I am a HUGE Lincoln fan and I was impressed that someone would hook the entire text of his Inaugural address.  WOW!
Since first writing this post, I have learned that a sort of "watermark" of Lincoln is actually hooked in behind the text of his speech.  That makes this rug even MORE amazing!!!
If you look closely, you'll see it.  It's right in the center.  ;-)

How could I ignore a flying Americana fish?!

That's all for this post--

Blessings,
Debra <3

With Faith-- Imagine, Dream, Believe

Breast Cancer.  Any kind of cancer...  It's a bad, bad thing.

This block is from my "With Faith" quilt that I made for Breast Cancer Awareness.  It still speaks to me everyday about how precious life is and how we need to do all we can to be a positive force in the lives of those who are touched by this robber of life.

I IMAGINE how beautiful life will be when this disease is eradicated from our world.  I DREAM of when that day will come.  I BELIEVE with all my heart that it will happen.

I still have the little green wheel barrow in my back yard.  I always keep flowers in it although, here in VA it's hard through the winter months.  The flowers are a symbol of life and renewal.  I plant them for the friends I have that continue to fight their cancer and also serve as a reminder of those precious friends and extended family members that I have lost.

All the blocks in this quilt are some of my favorite blocks.  Most are "old school", i.e. "traditional" blocks and I especially love the smaller versions of these blocks.  I like to carry little baggies of scraps with me when I travel along with a few templates.  Hand-piecing these little blocks relaxes me and then you never know where they will end up Ü

Those of you who know me well, know my favorite color is red.  This month, my favorite color is pink.  

With faith,

Debra <3

Fall is here!!

Well, after spending a few days in Hawaii we are back to N. VA enjoying this really cool weather.  I don't know that I've been without a sweater or sweatshirt since I got back.  Forget the time zone change--  it was way easier to deal with than the climate change!!  hahaha!
We had a very nice and comfortable room on the 7th floor of the Hale Koa facing the beach.  It was PERFECT!!!  This is the view from our room-- the beach is just beyond the courtyard-- our little corner of paradise ;-)

My new tan is fading fast (I'm sorry to say)... and I'm missing everything "beachy".  It truly was a dream vacation which would not be a complete dream without a little needlework to go with ;-)

I kept busy by starting and finishing a couple of punch needle projects.  They are small enough to travel with-- everything fits in a baggie with the exception of the gripper frame.  I'll get those pictures posted on my website as soon as I can as well as the finished "Temptation" picture.  I finished it just before we left and it is definitely my new favorite!!!

Temptation

Pippa's Pumpkins
This is my newest punch needle pattern just in time for Fall--  I haven't uploaded a photo of the finished pattern but it is done and ready to go!!
I think Pippa needs to be done as a rug too-- what do you think?

This is my soon-to-be newest punch needle  Unnamed, as of yet...  Gina, where are you? ;-)

I have also reworked a previous booklet-- My Little Book of Treasures.

This booklet contains 8 little sketches to be used for punch needle or enlarged for Hooking or for a quilt applique'.   The cover can also be used as a design, actually making the booklet 9 sketches-- a great value ;-)

I also need to start thinking about quilting!!!!  I've not done any in SO long...  I've missed it but really needed to reach my rug goal before I could quilt again.

Spring Market is in Kansas City in May 2012 so I have my work cut out for me for the next few months.  

I have a beautiful palette in my brain that I really want to work with...

Blessings to all till next time ;-)

I need to go and deal with my ceiling leak now...  Superman should be home soon ;-)))

Debra <3

Where did August go???

OMG!!
I can't believe August is over and we are in September and almost mid-way through for that fact!!!  Where did the time go?  I always seem to be running to catch up.  I'm so far behind, I think I'm first!!!  hahahaha!
I hope everyone is well, have been keeping busy, and have been enjoying the last of their summer days. 
Pretty soon the air will turn crisp (my favorite time of year!!), and we'll be back to cooking inside more often instead of everyday on the grill, although we do grill a lot in the snow (yes, we do that!!), watching football, getting all cozy by the fire, and sleeping under lots of quilts Ü  
I'm totally looking forward to ALL of that!

I do have some information for y'all though--  I have an unusually busy week coming up so I need to push the shipping on all orders received this week back until after 23 September.  I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone. 
I promise to be as quick as I can be getting everything out and I thank you for your patience Ü
You can still contact me by email:
DebraHenkel 

from my website:
Handmaiden Designs

or by leaving me a message here on the blog:
DebraHenkel

Happy end-of-summer to all!! 
I hope to have some new things to show on my site after the 23rd!!

Blessings to all!!
Debra <3

In Remembrance

Today is tough.  Every year, for the last 10 years, this day has been tough.
I live in the N. VA/metro DC area-- about 15 minutes or so from the Pentagon.  I moved here in the summer of 2000 from Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Texas (HOME Ü), and had been living here for about 7 months on September 11, 2001.
The biggest thing I noticed when I moved here was, how noisy and crowded it was.
That morning when I kissed Casey goodbye, I didn't pay much attention to when he said his meeting at the Pentagon was-- that day or the next.  He had meetings there all the time so it wasn't any different from any other day.


That morning, I was already watching the news when the coverage of the first plane hitting the WTC was announced.  On such a clear day, it seemed wrong.  What idiot wouldn't fly around that huge building?!  Little did we know that our national nightmare was just beginning.
My daughter Ashley was at home with me and we watched the news as the second airplane hit the other WTC tower. 
Being a military wife, my radar immediately went up.  We went down to the basement and started watching the news down there and I started trying to call Casey.  No answer.
I started to panic a little bit at that point.  I knew the next hit would be somewhere close.  NYC wasn't going to be the only target if we were truly under attack.  I was trying to remember what Casey had told me about a meeting at the Pentagon-- was it that day or the next?  I didn't know.  What I did know was that I needed to hear him and know he was ok and not at the Pentagon.

Soon, Ash and I both felt a concussion from the floor.  I knew we'd been hit then but didn't know where.  Then they announced a plane had hit the Pentagon. I got hysterical at that point. 
Casey was able to get through on a phone about 1/2 hour later to let me know he was at Bolling AFB and was ok and he was going to try to get home.

Our family was one of the lucky ones.  We were all safe and ok.
Not so for so many others. 
That night we watched and waited as car after car left the "slug line" in our development.  We knew those families would be ok too. 
A few cars stayed parked in the line for days and those were people who never made it home that day or ever again.
And then, for the next week or so, DC, N. VA, and my neighborhood were eerily quiet. No traffic, no trains, and the only planes we heard in the sky were those of the jets that were keeping a vigil on the Capitol.  There were no jet liners to listen to and look up at as they made their way on final to Dulles.  Just quiet.  Only after we recovered from the shock of that day, did we all start trying to pick up the pieces of our lives and adjust to the new "normal". 
I went to church, held my family closer, told them I loved them more often, let my friends know how grateful I was for their friendship, basically everything you do when something so precious is taken from you but you're still alive only now you have a gaping hole in your heart. 
We were all hurting and needed each other so badly. 

I will never forget that day-- I remember it like it was yesterday.
I drive by that slug line almost every day.  If I leave my house, I drive by that line.  There hasn't been once that I haven't thought about or said a prayer for those who didn't make it back to their cars that day. 

I was a 100% patriotic American before 9-11.  What happened that day made me even more so.
I love my country.  I support all those who honor and defend her.  I constantly pray for those who go into harm's way to protect me and my family.  I know the sacrifice they make and I never forget the price they pay to keep us free. 
My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to those families that lost someone that day.  I know that void can't possibly be filled but I still hope your pain eases as time goes by. 
My heart, my thanks, and my prayers go out to those who defended us before that day and to those who defend us now in response to that day. 
Saying "Thank you" just doesn't seem like enough-- please know I mean it with my whole heart...
May God bless you all.